Thursday, April 06, 2006

Our past Wednesday class was devoted to a senior belt grading where our blue belts and purple belt graded. I have to admit, it was more like a demonstration than a grading to the white belt line watching. Basically those who graded were asked to demonstrate technique after technique in different situations from memory. It appeared to me that 80% of what I saw was based directly on the white belt curriculum. The other 20% was some pure candy. My personal favourite was Tommy's Turtle Choke. Slick!

From watching the grading, it made me realize how important it is to have a series of techniques dedicated to memory and be able to draw upon them when needed. Earlier this week I wrote about thinking faster; essential. But it is more than that; acting faster and just going for it is even more important.

"G", one of my seniors and solid fighter, expressed the importance of building a strong base technique, or two, or three for each situation that could be drawn upon easily. That base of techniques will provide a strong launch pad for future applied curriculum. That, tied in with Professor's "attack, attack, attack" mentality would make for a pretty good fight plan against any opponent. But more than those two elements, hesitation must be reduced or eliminated to be effective.

If an opponent gets an advantageous position and I stop to think about how to escape; that hesitation will be the opportunity my opponent needs to submit me. So I must act fast and hope for the best. The only challenges for me with this "act quick" mind set is that the game speed will increase, I have to fight to curb clumsy or gross movements, and build my stamina to compensate for the lack of stationary position time.

So, at this point in my game, my biggest opponent is myself. How do I want to roll? How will I go about improving my game. I think, because I am getting to a good place in my training, if I can concentrate on indentifying one personal error and correct it the next time I roll, I will keep getting better and better faster. There are hundreds of classes to come, so I have lots of time and opportunity to improve...